OSM NEWS U. S. Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining For release: June 18, 1999 Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719 Jchildre@osmre.gov OSM FUNDS TWO MARYLAND APPALACHIAN CLEAN STREAMS PROJECTS UNDER NEW WATERSHED COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROGRAM Kathy Karpan, Director of the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), today approved $145,000 in funding for two Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative projects which address two major sources of acid mine drainage (AMD) in the state of Maryland. The projects are funded under a new Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program, announced in January 1999. Karpan announced that the Everhart Seep Remediation Project in Garrett County will receive $80,000, and the Mill Run Project in Allegany County will receive $65,000 in funds which are designed to assist local organizations that undertake local AMD projects. "I salute the hard work by the members of the Nature Conservancy on the Everhart project, and the Conservation Fund on the Mill Run Project, as well the local grassroots watershed groups, who are working to find solutions for acid mine drainage in their communities. These projects directly benefit the people who are working to make their home towns better places to live," Karpan said. "I have seen first hand the effects of acid mine drainage on water quality and what local groups can do to make dramatic improvements. I was determined to find a way to help those who make a difference. The Watershed Cooperative Agreement program and these projects do just that," Karpan continued. OSM officials said that the Everhart project will treat an AMD seep with an average flow of 34 gallons per minute from a surface mine site which predates the 1977 Federal surface mining law. The treatment will result in better water quality for Deep Creek Lake which flows into the Youghiogheny River, a designated Wild and Scenic River in Maryland, and a major outdoor recreational and economic resource in Western Maryland and Southwestern Pennsylvania. The Mill Run project will treat an AMD discharge totaling 140 gallons per minute from an abandoned deep mine and will improve the quality of water flowing into the North Branch of the Potomac River, and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. Both projects will affect the quality of water which flows to either side of the Eastern Continental Divide. The Everhart project affects water going to the west while the Mill Run project affects water which flows to the east. Because of the different conditions at both sites, different abatement techniques will be used in each. The Mill Run site will involve the installation of a diversion well to treat a deep mine discharge and the Everhart site will employ the use of a passive treatment system called a SAPS (Successive Alkalinity Producing System) and wetlands to treat a surface mine discharge. As part of OSM's FY 1999 Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative, $750,000 is available to fund cooperative agreements between OSM and not-for-profit groups, especially small watershed organizations, for local acid mine drainage projects. Eligible applicants are not-for-profit, established organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status. Applicants must have other partners, contributing either funding or in-kind services. The partners must provide a substantial portion of the total resources needed to complete the project. For this year, proposed projects from the following Appalachian Clean Streams states are eligible: Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. -OSM-